Michael Anthony Squashes Van Halen Reunion Rumors

Since Michael Anthony's tumultuous departure from Van Halen in 2006, the relationship between the bassist and the Van Halen brothers has been tenuous. The rumors of a classic lineup reunion and stadium tour in 2019 had fans hoping the two sides had finally put it all behind them, but now it seems unlikely as Anthony has revealed it's been over a decade since he last spoke with his former bandmates.

"The only comment I have is that I haven't spoken to any of the guys since we last played together back in 2004," Anthony told Premiere Radio Networks. He noted his conversation with Alex Van Halen, presumably from 2016, but chalked it up to nothing more than small talk. At the time of that conversation, the bass player had told rock radio personality Eddie Trunk that the two "talked for about 20 minutes and had a great conversation just about life in general and getting older and what’s going on around us in the music industry and it was actually really great talking to him.”

Anthony previously told Trunk that he was past the idea of a reunion and reflected on what he perceived to be a sorry state of a great rock band. "It’s like Van Halen, being one of the biggest bands there ever was, it’s kind of sad to see how everything kind of dwindled down like it did, with a whimper. Which this band, if we were gonna go out, should have gone out just killing it all over the world," he commented.

In May of 2017, the bassist even called for a joint reunion with both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. The latest rumors, concerning the classic original lineup, stemmed from an interview Roth gave where he alluded to the idea that Van Halen would be back with the "original band." Trunk, who noted that these type of rumors persist every year, recently said that the rumors were stronger as 2018 draws to a close.

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